North Korea Fires Missiles as Kim Leads Military Exercise
- Seoul says two missiles detected, condemns the action
- Japan’s defense minister suggests link to coronavirus outbreak
A man watches a television news broadcast showing file footage of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, at a railway station in Seoul.
Photographer: Jung Yeon-je/AFP via Getty Images
North Korea appears to have fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea shared with Japan, hours after leader Kim Jong Un oversaw a military exercise.
South Korea said it had detected the projectiles fired from North Pyongan Province near the West Sea and that they traveled 410 kilometers (255 miles). Japan’s coast guard confirmed that the projectiles fell outside of its exclusive economic zone, while its Minister of Defense Taro Kono said the launches may be linked with the coronavirus pandemic, serving as a move by North Korea to tighten internal order and control.